Eric Tapley

What a surprise - this site was covered in the blog watch of the Worcester Magazine! It seems as if my poison ivy saga is more popular than I could have ever imagined. Lucky you to be able to read about my rash when I really thought only my Mom would care.

So, welcome! Happy to have you as a reader! Feel free to poke around and comment if you like. There’s more than just rash news, of course, but for the past couple of weeks that has been occupying most of my attention.

As for my rash, I do have an update to share. Here goes:

I spoke with my dermatologist today. It turns out that the biopsy does in fact indicate I have a ‘contact dermatitis’ response, which, in human lingo, means poison ivy (or poison sumac, or poison oak, or some other form of the poison vine variety). She [my dermatologist] felt that with my current course of medication I should be better, soon, especially given the high daily dose of Prednisone I’m taking.

In the meantime the course of action is to wait and let nature run its course.

I have a follow-up appointment for this next week and will be closely monitoring my symptoms to see if they get any worse, especially if I start having more dizziness, light headedness, or breathing problems.

As for you, my lucky reader, if you have an allergic reaction with any of those symptoms you should get checked out right away. Especially if you have breathing problems, as that could be a sign of a more serious reaction that could be life threatening. It’s not a good idea to take risks and play around when your health is at stake.

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